From the Frontlines

A study abroad trip to Thailand inspired Ellen Roggemann and friends to start a non-profit that facilitates global grassroots exchanges, like the one that brought three Thai farmers to San Francisco to see how their fair trade rice is sold in the U.S.

The upcoming WTO meeting in Hong Kong will be crucial in determining whether the benefits of trade will shift towards developing countries. In the meantime, buying fair trade coffee can help ... one cup at a time.

Ultimately, fair trade is a moral issue—and one that people of faith are taking more and more seriously.

Has fair trade really improved the lives of indigenous producers? Cultural Survival spent several weeks visiting and interviewing fair trade producers as well as importers, labeling organizations, and businesses to find out.

Much of the chocolate found on supermarket shelves continues to be produced under appalling conditions—despite years of public outrage and consumer demand for change. But smaller chocolate companies are showing that there is another way.